The wedding of her cousin, The Duke of Cambridge, drew crowds of a million
people to the streets of London, but Zara Phillips’s nuptials in Edinburgh
look set to be a dour affair by comparison, after police warned that few
members of the public will see anything at all.

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Mike Tindall and Zara Phillips will be seen by as few as 1,500 members of the public when they get married, police estimatePhoto: REX

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Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall will marry at Canongate Kirk, left, in Edinburgh, in JulyPhoto: ALAMY/AP

The streets around Canongate Kirk, where Miss Phillips will marry the England rugby player Mike Tindall on Saturday, are so narrow that as few as 1,500 people will get a glimpse of the Royal family as they go to and from the ceremony.

Police are so keen to manage expectations that the officer in charge on the day has insisted the ceremony is merely the marriage of “two sports personalities” rather than a royal wedding.

And it seems that the couple are equally keen to make their special day a low-key event. There will be no TV cameras allowed inside the church and no details of the ceremony, including the order of service, will be published.

Miss Phillips, 30, will spend Friday night at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, and will be driven 400 yards down the Royal Mile to Canongate Kirk on Saturday afternoon, together with senior members of the Royal family including her mother, the Princess Royal, the Queen, the Prince of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Superintendent Ivor Marshall, Operation Commander for the event, said: “Obviously it is the Royal Mile, which is a very constricted space. There are no fully set up viewing areas, as this is a private event and not a state event. So I would get there early.”

Metal barriers will be set up along the short route, but Supt Marshall estimated the “maximum capacity” of the pavement viewing area to be 1,500 to 2,000 people.

He said: “As far as we are concerned this is a traditional Scottish wedding like any other. At the end of the day, Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall are sports personalities. It just so happens that the bride’s family is also the Royal family.”

The couple will hold a brief drinks reception on Friday night on board the Royal yacht, Britannia, which is docked on the Firth of Forth. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will not take the opportunity of boarding the decommissioned ship, choosing instead to travel down from Balmoral on Saturday morning.